


Gratitude

by whenyouheldtheknife



Series: Gratitude [1]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Carlos the drunk science teacher, Cecil the strange librarian, Fluff, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Librarians, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-29
Updated: 2013-10-29
Packaged: 2017-12-30 20:44:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1023179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whenyouheldtheknife/pseuds/whenyouheldtheknife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos looked up at Cecil with his dark brown eyes, a faint haze of golden recognition sparkling in them, and Cecil swallowed nervously, adjusting his lavender bowtie.<br/>In which Carlos is a drunk science teacher and Cecil is a weird librarian. Inspired by my friend's physics lab instructor, who grades their labs while he's drunk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gratitude

**Author's Note:**

> wow it's been a while since i've used this account....  
> i hope y'all enjoy the strange little night vale thing uvu

There were many things that Cecil Baldwin enjoyed about his job as a high school librarian. Many of these things that he enjoyed had to do with the quiet of the library: the hum of the computers before students were allowed in to study, the quiet rustlings of the pages of the books as he thumbed calmly through them, and even the tiny squeak of the desk chair as he sat down in it to begin cataloguing overdue library books. 

Of course, there was also the pleasure that Cecil derived from writing rather ominous overdue library notices: _If you don’t return your overdue books within the required time limit, I will have to stand outside your house at the witching hour to retrieve them from your cold, lifeless hands._

The principal wasn’t fond of these strange notices that Cecil so enjoyed writing with his favorite purple pen in careful calligraphy, but he had come to accept that, despite the terrifying images his notices planted in the minds of students, they were, in fact, rather effective. 

On an uneventful Monday morning, Cecil sat in his chair with his fingers steepled in front of his face, his blue-grey eyes focusing on the computer screen in front of him. Scanning the words of the e-mail regarding a faculty meeting later that he would be required to attend, Cecil heaved a sigh and reached down to rub his hands over his eyes underneath the lenses of his wire-rimmed glasses. “It’s such a shame that they have to take time away from us when we could be working on bettering our personal curriculum for the students,” he murmured, closing out of the e-mail with another sigh. 

At that moment, exactly half-past seven, before the students were able to enter the library, the doors opened with a loud bang, startling Cecil up from his seat. He looked towards the door, his free hand immediately going for a pen (what is this supposed to do, he wondered, be a weapon? What a poor choice!) when he saw that it was merely one of the teachers entering. “Good morning, Carlos!” he greeted the man, relaxing his shoulders and setting the pen down. 

Instead of greeting Cecil as he normally did, Carlos, in his purple dress shirt and undone periodic table of elements tie, stumbled up to the desk and leaned heavily against it, startling Cecil yet again. “My class is, ‘s’in here today, yeah?” he asked. Carlos looked up at Cecil with his dark brown eyes, a faint haze of golden recognition sparkling in them, and Cecil swallowed nervously, adjusting his lavender bowtie. 

“I, erm, I don’t think that’s true, Carlos,” he answered. 

Carlos leaned closer and tilted his head up to look more closely at Cecil. He breathed out long and slow, and Cecil could smell whiskey on his breath. “But Cecil,” he whispered, in a tone so husky and intimate it sent the blond’s heart racing beneath his pinstriped purple-and-white collared shirt. “This is where the science happens.” 

Cecil exhaled slowly, closing his eyes, and leaned back from Carlos slightly. That was too close, goodness. “Uh… All right. Let me just… show you where your class is going to be.” Cecil smiled brightly and watched as Carlos tried to comprehend what was happening while Cecil came out from behind his desk and placed a hand on Carlos’s upper arm lightly. 

“Your hands’re warm,” Carlos muttered as he leaned onto Cecil. Startled, Cecil almost pulled away but he felt Carlos’s hair, his beautiful, dark, luscious black curls tickling the skin of his neck, and Cecil reasoned that he could let Carlos rest against him. After all, wasn’t he supposed to help other faculty members if the need arose? Clearly, Carlos and his beautiful hair and his whiskey breath were in need of assistance. 

Cecil tried to get Carlos to come to the couch, to get him to sit down and try to see that he didn’t have a class in the library today and that he should probably go home for the day, but there was dead weight on his shoulder now. Surprised, Cecil glanced down at Carlos and found the man’s eyes closed and his mouth open slightly, clearly asleep. 

Smiling softly at the adorable image, Cecil looped his arm around Carlos’s torso, careful to keep himself from drifting farther down to wrap around his waist instead (despite Cecil’s strong desire to), guiding him to the couch. He laid Carlos down on the couch, arranging the pillows so that the man’s head would lie comfortably while he slept. A spare blanket rested over the top of the couch and Cecil pulled it down, tucking it in around Carlos to keep him warm while he slept. 

“Cecil,” Carlos said suddenly, his eyes opening just a crack. Cecil started and stood up straight, but Carlos reached out from under the blanket and gripped the librarian’s wrist. Looking directly at each other, Cecil’s blue-grey eyes and Carlos’s dark brown eyes meeting for a solid minute before Carlos added, “Thanks.” His eyes closed again and released Cecil’s wrist, falling back to sleep almost instantly. 

Cecil’s heart was still pounding rapidly in his chest as he watched Carlos for another few minutes, unaware of the few students starting to trickle into the library as the clock changed to eight o’clock. 

He hoped that Carlos would still feel so grateful when Cecil had to wake him up later for that faculty meeting. 


End file.
